Mold treatment AFTER casting?

[jayjay1]

Hey guys,
meanwhile I have aluminium, brass and steel molds.

I know now how I have to treat them BEFORE casting, but am not sure what to do with them, when the casting session is over.

Currently I lubricate them all with some oil, when they are cooled down, and wrap some old t-shirt material around them to store them then, to prevent oxidation or so (my thinking).

What are you doing with your aluminium, brass or steel molds?


Cheers,
Jay

[Hickory]

Kroil

[dragon813gt]

Lube the sprue plate, alignment pins and Cramer pins if it has them. Put a rubber band around it and place it in my mold storage boxes. I don't have any steel molds because I live in a high humidity area.

[jayjay1]

Kroil

I see, some sort of creeping oil, right?

Kroil isn´t to have here, but it seems to make people funny so.
:mrgreen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcncMFRvWdc


What we do have WD-40, would this be an exceptable substitute?

[jayjay1]

Lube the spur plate, alignment pins and Cramer pins if it has them. Put a rubber band around it and place it in my mold storage boxes. I don't have any steel molds because I live in a high humidity area.

Thanks, so this what you do with only aluminium or brass molds too?

High humidity area....?
:???:

Hmmm, think I have to go and check ma iron molds...
[smilie=1:

[s mac]

A friend of mine taught me to wrap the mould in VCI paper for storage, works great. I work in an auto dealership and some parts come wrapped in this so I have plenty. If you want some send me a PM and I'll send you a piece.
Oh my, I just saw that you are in Germany, Don't know how much postage that would be.

[HangFireW8]

Never wrap in a cotton t-shirt, it attracts and holds moisture. Use wool or nothing at all.

[OuchHot!]

Steel/iron molds are wrapped in vpi paper and put in sealed ammo can. The steel pins and sprue plates on Al/Brass molds are wiped down with a silicon/RIG wipe and stuck in a drawer. I live in a humid area and that seems to work and is less trouble when I put them back into use.

[Wayne Smith]

Kept in an AC environment on a shelf, no special care once it cools.

[13Echo]

Before storing molds are inspected and wiped clean of carbon if the cavities were smoked. Iron molds are wiped with a rust preventative oil or wrapped in VPI paper. Steel sprue plates and locating pins are wiped down with oily rag. Pin holes for Cramer pins are cleaned with pipe cleaners or Qtip. Mounting pins and screws are inspected and wiped with oily rag before replacing. If the session is to be continued in a day or two then just inspect and wrap in VPI paper in an airtight container or store where they won't be exposed to moisture (gunsafe with goldenrod works). Overkill perhaps but good molds are not cheap, some are from special runs or no longer made and are not replaceable, and they are, at least the better ones, precision tools that should be treated with care.

Jerry Liles

[NavyVet1959]

All my molds are the aluminum Lee ones. Normally, I store the molds in the same room as my reloading press and it is air-conditioned, so I have never had a problem with any rust. Recently, I forgot and left a mold in the garage with my casting equipment for a few weeks and when I finally noticed it, the sprue plate and anything else that was steel had a fine haze of rust on it. I took some steel wool and mineral oil and cleaned it up and then wiped the residue off with paper towels and re-oiled everything with more mineral oil.

[williamwaco]

Never owned a brass mold, only iron and aluminum.

Be sure they are clean and there are no lead flashes on the faces or on the sprue plate.
Then return them to the original box and put them on the shelf. ( In the house )

The Iron molds get a piece of VPI paper.

No oil of any kind.

That said, I live in North Texas we rarely have high humidity here.

[Beagle333]

Let em cool after casting, put em in one of the Tupperware containers with the bag of RemDry (desiccant) and seal it back up. :mrgreen: As long as that little dot on the bag is blue, no worries.
http://www.remington.com/products/accessories/storage-and-safety/rem-dri-35-desiccant.aspx

[3jimbo3]

Lube the sprue plate, alignment pins and Cramer pins if it has them. Put a rubber band around it and place it in my mold storage boxes. I don't have any steel molds because I live in a high humidity area.


I live in SE Tennessee, will I be better off staying away from steel molds? Currently all I have is aluminum(Lee), are those as good as the rest? I am looking at some steel molds to purchase, but your opinions may change this.

[NavyVet1959]

I live in SE Tennessee, will I be better off staying away from steel molds? Currently all I have is aluminum(Lee), are those as good as the rest? I am looking at some steel molds to purchase, but your opinions may change this.

Just put them back in the house after you get through with them. Even the aluminum Lee molds have steel sprue plates and they will rust even in a "dry" garage.

[rockshooter]

Since I live in the desert, I just put them on a shelf in the garage- no special care between casting sessions. If I'm not use one of the iron ones for a while, I spray it with oil.
Loren

[jayjay1]

Sorry for a maybe dumb question, but for being not an English native speaker, I have to ask what "VPI paper" is?

[Southern Son]

I live in SE Tennessee, will I be better off staying away from steel molds? Currently all I have is aluminum(Lee), are those as good as the rest? I am looking at some steel molds to purchase, but your opinions may change this.

Heck no. Good quality steel moulds rock. All you have to do is oil them after you finish, then clean them before you start casting. I live near Rockhampton, Queensland, Down Under. This place during summer IS humidity. When I finish with the mould, I will oil it. If I am going to use it again soon (week or less), then I hit it with some cheap WD40 and put it into a Tupperwear container. If I have finished with the mould for longer, then it gets coated in Lanogard (spray-on lanolin grease), then into the same container. When it is time to cast, I hit the mould with some good de-greaser, let it soak in that before a good scrubbing with dishwashing soap and hot water. I then put the mould into a mould oven (a hot plate with a tin steel cover) to dry out.

[Southern Son]

Sorry for a maybe dumb question, but for being not an English native speaker, I have to ask what "VPI paper" is?

You might also know it as VCI (Vapour Corosion Inhibitor). Some reloading Dies come with a little bit of brown paper in the box, it will usually have VCI written on it.

[jayjay1]

Hm, I used Aceton to clean the mold from oil, three times Aceton and scrubbed it, but became still wrinkeld boolits, then did the Aceton-thingy again when it was still hot / good warm, but it didn´t get better.

With break cleaner I hadn´t this issues in the past, but Aceton should even be better in my opinion, not?

Is there a "good" and "bad" aceton?

[Dan Cash]

A mould going into storage gets oiled with Ed's Red or plain Automatic Transmission Fluid. I immerse the oiled mould in mineral spirits or paint thinner, slosh it around well and plow it dry with compressed air when ready to use again. Heat the mould on edge of melting pot while lead melts and good bullets from the start.
For me, the mineral spirit works better as a degreaser than acetone. All acetone is probably equal. Beware the use of brake cleaner as it can release some EVIL gas when heated.

[monadnock#5]

When done casting, I wet my molds thoroughly with WD-40. Brass, aluminum and steel (they all have steel components) all get the same treatment, mold handles as well. The next time around I wash them with a toothbrush, warm water and Dawn dishwashing detergent. Then I wash them all over again just to be sure. Prewarm on a hotplate is mandatory at this point to evaporate the moisture. This is done while the pot comes up to temp.

If after all this my boolits come out wrinkled, I would suspect that my melt was undertemp before I considered oil in the cavities.

[Smoke4320]

WD 40 will work .if you are in hi humidity area may need to retreat every few months. Or spray and put in zip lock freezer bag.. Never had one rust this way
ATF will work better
Birchwood cash also makes a spray called barracade very good for open storage

[Ickisrulz]

Eezox, sealed ammo can and silica gel desiccant.

[3jimbo3]

Heck no. Good quality steel moulds rock. All you have to do is oil them after you finish, then clean them before you start casting. I live near Rockhampton, Queensland, Down Under. This place during summer IS humidity. When I finish with the mould, I will oil it. If I am going to use it again soon (week or less), then I hit it with some cheap WD40 and put it into a Tupperwear container. If I have finished with the mould for longer, then it gets coated in Lanogard (spray-on lanolin grease), then into the same container. When it is time to cast, I hit the mould with some good de-greaser, let it soak in that before a good scrubbing with dishwashing soap and hot water. I then put the mould into a mould oven (a hot plate with a tin steel cover) to dry out.

Sounds good to me, I will give this a try. I have never heard of the "Lanogard" here where I live but I will definitely try to find something similar to use. As far as a degreaser, I like to use " purple power " for this. Spray it on uncut and wash it off. Works great for applications like this. Thanks for the info.

[williamwaco]

Hm, I used Aceton to clean the mold from oil, three times Aceton and scrubbed it, but became still wrinkeld boolits, then did the Aceton-thingy again when it was still hot / good warm, but it didn´t get better.

With break cleaner I hadn´t this issues in the past, but Aceton should even be better in my opinion, not?

Is there a "good" and "bad" aceton?


It is a very good degreaser. But not better than break cleaner. In fact it is one of the ingredients in break cleaner. Check the ingredients on your can.

That said it is, in my experience, no better than a good dish washing detergent. ( I use Dawn - and a brush and have very good results. 409 is good too.)

I expect your problem is caused by a cold mold.

If the sprue puddle hardens in less than three seconds, the mold is too cold.

[Old Scribe]

All my moulds are aluminum and after cooling I inspect them, clean if needed and put them in the box they came in. Rust has never been a problem .

[jayjay1]

If after all this my boolits come out wrinkled, I would suspect that my melt was undertemp before I considered oil in the cavities.

Well, I´m new to aluminium molds.

Can it be, that when using those molds, against iron or brass, you have to speed things up, or go hotter as with the others?

[Ed_Shot]

Several of my Lyman molds spent 30 years coated with Lyman case lube and wrapped in cotton T-shirt material in a wooden box in an outdoor shed along with my Lyman press, dies, scale and 450 during an Army carrier and after till I had time and place to take up the hobby again. Not a spec of rust. Now when my iron molds cool after casting I spray them with penetrating oil and wrap them in cotton T-shirt material for storage. When I get ready to cast I clean iron molds by spraying with W-mart non-chlorinated brake cleaner and heat them on a hot plate. Usually get good boolits on the first cast.

I don't do anything to aluminum molds except wrap them cloth for protection in storage.

[monadnock#5]

Well, I´m new to aluminium molds.

Can it be, that when using those molds, against iron or brass, you have to speed things up, or go hotter as with the others?

I bought a PID recently from kyle623. IIRC, best results were obtained at 615°F. So: 1) make sure that your melt is at full temperature before casting the first boolit; and 2) cast fast at startup. A hotplate set at 400°F+/- to prewarm your moulds helps A LOT to drastically reduce the time before you get keepers.
Don't get me wrong, you don't need a PID or a hotplate to make good boolits, but they reduce the guesswork and frustration by a huge margin. Without them, go fast and don't take the time to see what you've got until the pot is empty . This will work for all mold makes and materials.

[QIDPlb]

VCI paper should be enough.

[.22-10-45]

Some of my moulds might not see the light of day for years..I use Mold Saver..a lanolin-based industrial aresol designed for preserving injection moulds and dies. When mould temp. is just barely warm..I give them a light coat..comes right off with hot soapy water. Most Industrial tool houses carry it.

[OptimusPanda]

All my molds are aluminum so about all I do after they cool is maybe wipe down the steel parts with an oiled patch. The aluminum is already oxidized on its surface and shouldn't corrode.